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Canon 5D Mark III / Speedlite 600EX-RT Pre-Order

And there you have it, the new Canon 5D Mark III and already available for pre-order. From the images, it looks like a cross between a 5D Mark III, 7D, and a 60D (no flip out LCD screen). From the 7D you can see the dedicated photo/video switch and joystick knob, and on the left top it looks like the locking dial from the Canon 60D.

Additional photos and specs are available at the Pre-Order page (click here).

Canon 5D Mark III - Pre Order

Along with the new Canon 5D Mark III announcement, Canon releases a new 600EX-RT Speedlite flash system that works on Radio waves (not infrared). Communication over Radio is going to be a big hit on wireless trigger companies like Pocket Wizard and Radio Popper. If things work out well with the new flashes, I can finally say goodbye to my Radio Popper PX system....

At the very least, they should have kept the same price. A grand for more focal points, audio control and an extra megapixel??? One megapixel??? What was the point?
Nikon is looking pretty good. Canon spread themselves too thin, putting out a c300, 1dx, a 4k cam and the mkIII. I thought they got rid of the 1Ds to streamline their lineup. They've gotten into what I see as a much worse predicament.

What I've learnt from the DSLR movement is, outside of how cost effective they are and the image quality, is that these cameras give you the flexibility to shoot in a new way, because it's essentially a modular camera. The body is mainly about the image and sensor quality, beyond that, everyone had developed their own solutions to filming that suited their specific needs, both in terms of rigs and technical specifications; You can build it up to a cinema style rig with cup holder, or scale it down to it's y-fronts for covert B-roll- that is what has been so liberating for a lot of us.

What I've been waiting for is somebody to make something very deliberately modular, but that could come together in various incarnations much more elegantly than what is currently available. That could have been a 5d mark 3 with a suitable port to connect to a video module, maybe it's the Nikon D4 (with the aforementioned atomos ninja). But all manufacturers seem to have been skirting around this idea without ever truly addressing it satisfactorily. I think that it is the only way everyone tickled by the video DSLR movement will find happiness, and whoever gets there first will make a lot of friends in this substantial market.

I manage to get hold on the mark 3 on its launch, and play with it! although the tech spec seem to be LESS impressive. Until you try the ISO and AF points! Basically I feel the grains and noise level at 6000 ISO or even 8000 are comparable to 1200 ISO on Mark2 or 7D.

As I only have less than 15 mins to test on it, I would be able to compare it very closely. but it does make me feel like owning it.

I suspect that anyone who rolls there eyes at people expressing disappointment in these specs has never spent time synching audio, jiggling a mini jack for magic lantern or considered how simple a thing a single XLR jack would be to add.

I shoot video and some photography and the 5d mk ii is almost exactly perfect for what I need. Give me usable audio inputs and my job gets about 100 times less annoying. I'd pay 1200 dollars for a simple audio input on the mk ii or a similar camera in the same range. It's soo 'almost'

If you look at the 5D Mk III as a video camera, it comes up short. But as a still camera, it's on target and a great upgrade. That's obviously where they want to keep it. Primarily a still camera with good video capability. Of course, it could easily be both without much effort.

@Kelly - Is the 5D Mark III an incredible camera? Yes it is. I'm in love with it, but there's a huge video market still 'waiting' for Canon. Price is not so much an issue for me, but it's the lack of what Canon is offering in their products. It's been three years since the Canon 5D Mark II and yet they still have a huge gap for an 'interchangeable lens' camera with more video-like features. Sony offers an FS100 for about $5K, Panasonic offers an AF100 for about $5K, Canon threw us a $15K C300. Even Nikon is starting to 'get it'. The D4 is going for about $6k (almost twice 5DM3 price), yet I have the feeling like it had more positive response. There's no doubt that Sony and Panasonic totally 'get it'.

There's a huge video market out there that the 5D Mark II 'almost' satisfied, so they waited around for Canon to just add a few more features into some type of camera, even if this means increasing the costs. They failed to meet that demand with a $15K C300, failed to offer anything on the 1Dx announcement, and now failed to meet that audience with a 5D Mark III. Canon might still be coming out with a Cinema camera, but it's been several years, and everyone is becoming more impatient. I think that's where the big feeling of disappointment is based upon. The 5D Mark III is a great camera with some crazy new advancements, but basically speaking, where is Canon's response to a camera like the FS100? I'm starting to feel like i'm in denial, and maybe it's time to face the fact that Canon is too protective about their video line to offer us a sub $6K camera body like Sony's FS100 or Panny's AF100.

lol People seem to want every damn video feature known to man, for under $3,000. Not going to happen.

The added 2 stops, 22 MP (suppose to be ideal for low light), All-l compression, 29min run time, Audio levels, Headphone Jack, Time-Code, Custom file names, manual controls while recording, no line skipping, and Digic 5+ is worth the upgrade in my opinion.

The only feature they left out for an awesome DSLR is uncompressed HDMI out.

With that being said, remember they have a Cinema DSLR coming this year. They can't put everything in the 5D3.

People are acting like this is meant specifically for video. It's still a stills first camera. Sorry, it's not going to have every video feature you want.

Wait for the Cinema DSLR. This however is great. I'll just play it safe by waiting for the Cinema DSLR since I'm a filmmaker first. Perhaps I'll get a 5D3 later down the line for a B camera.

I think you guys are disappointed because you wanted another groundbreaking device. Fact is, the 5D2 came at a perfect time. Not much more can be done. The next step is to split the market a bit. Creat DSLRs that are video first and DSLRs that are stills first. Canon seems to be doing that.

"Cheese and Rice" you guys! I absolutely hate that all I'm reading everyone on the internet is how disappointing it is, or "shame on you Canon!" Remember, THIS IS A STILLS CAMERA with the extra added bonus of video!!! Canon is doing a great job with how they're marketing their photo and video department. I don't care what the other millions of disappointed dudes say. Why would Canon release a $16,000 cinema camera and put the same, if not better specs and abilities, in a $3,500 STILLS CAMERA?!?! Seriously? People seem to want the biggest baddest beast out there for cheap! This camera is gonna rock! People will still buy it no matter how much bitching is going on!

Someone stated above that they wouldn't go with the FS-100 because it does not " have built in ND filters, which is inexcusable for a $5000 camera" Really? Inexcusable? The Red and Arri Alexa don't have ND filters internally- Would you turn your nose at them? The limited amount of use that two internal ND filters give you as opposed to 6-8 degrees of ND available in rotating ND filters or ND filters on a mattbox is night and day. Also by design the trade off is that virtually any lens is going to fit on the FS-100. Built in ND filters are the legacy of ENG cameras from the days of RCA, Ikagami and Sony and are a function of news gathering. If you are shooting something like a music video, a film, a wedding or lots and lots of uses- the built in ND is a trivial thing. If you ARE doing news gathering, the ND alternatives are there.

If you are a video professional that relies on these features instead of measurebating statistics, all of the upgrades are very welcome. Don't forget that this is still primarily a still camera. For the same price of admission for the body and a good lens, you are in FS-100 territory and I would suggest that there are a lot of amazing video cameras in the 5K range that have things like...oh say... XLR inputs.

That being said, I am both a photographer and videographer. I have a jury rigged audio system for my 5DII. With the 5DIII, I can use a transformer from my battery operated ME-66 right into the camera and both adjust AND monitor audio with level. (The magic lantern has always been a hack and does not work well in production environments) If you actually use this camera to make money with video, not having to take 10 minutes to set up your audio every time is worth the price alone.
The touch thumbwheel is a welcome addition, although I have not seen how many stops it can adjust the iris by.
Timecode, and the ability to sync over multiple cameras is priceless. Now I can sort my clips by when they were shot because the don't all start at 00:00
The C300 does not even do 1080P60 and neither does the D800. I am quite happy with 720P60.
The new codecs will speed up the editing process (I am guessing) as I should not have to encode to an intermediate codec to edit smoothly. I know that Premiere "accepts" h.264, but anyone who has tried to edit this natively knows that it is not all it is cracked up to be.

On the still side, the HDR sounds really neat, but the high ISO performance is supposed to be amazing. I would suggest that a lot of people who shoot in the real world would trade pixels for ISO performance, which is actually one thing that a lot of people think that the D800 really screwed up on.

I really want to be positive about this camera having loved the Mark II for the last 3 years but here in the UK it is being priced out at £2999 which is way too expensive to justify the added features.
Sorry Canon but you really screwed up your pricing on this one.

Hey everyone, I totally get where everyone is coming from I just feel like after all the hype we call can say we were seeing and feeling this is really a let down. Even if it is a little one it still is not what anyone was expecting. All I am saying is that at this point I really don't see the need of upgrading at this point because my 60D and Mark II are treating me fine. Have a great weekend yall!

Amen to the ND shortcoming on the Sony. It was my WTF moment when reading the specs and ultimately made me not buy the thing; especially considering that there's no hi-tech involved in implementing the feature.

ND is the most important thing for controlling exposures in the field doing 'run'ngun' work. Take that away and it becomes 'walk'ngun' work.

I agree the new compression method could potentially make a huge difference. People may not be getting the 1080 60fps they wanted, but they are getting a very maxed out 720 that could potentially rival the 1080 of the current crop of dslrs. The camera is a stud, but I think people wanted the next step for DSLRs to be as groundbreaking and earth shattering as the initial lineup was on the camera front and the truth is, that's not going to happen any time soon.

I personally love the features, but I'm going to hold off and see if they bring those features along into their lesser priced 7d and 60d replacements down the road. I can go another year with my current 60d no problem.

I bet you the makers of Swivi were opening champagne bottles yesterday. We'll have to wait and see if the new codec offers a significant advantage for video. I have a hunch though that the price of this camera is going to start sliding down quickly. Sort of what happened with the C300 right away because of Scarlet. And also, I guessing they'll add 1080p60 through a firmware upgrade sooner than later, because I can't imagine the little point and shoot Sonys can't do 1080p60 fps and this beast with two Digic 5 processors can't. As for me, its stills low light performance would have to blow me away over the mkII's to invest in it right away. As far as events video, the hacked GH2, which will probably drop to clearance prices as soon as the GH3 is announced, looks like the way to go right now. And for those with midrange pro video projects, the FS100 is looking much better as long as the starting price of this stays at $3500.

I think those of you who are feeling underwhelmed are forgetting that Canon has a thriving professional camcorder business to protect. They're not going to obsolete anything in that product line with this camera regardless of demand...not yet anyhow.

The improvements are significant...nearly every feature is best in class now. This is a much larger jump in features within a product line than we're used to seeing. I think the expectations are high because the Mk II was so ahead of it's time when it came out...people are expecting another game changer but lightning doesn't always strike twice.

The only mistake they made, which was an obvious choice to protect their video business, was not providing clean HDMI output. Nikon has done this is in both their newest and I think it could draw market share away when it comes to video. Anybody who is already using Nikon glass or manual glass with an adapter can buy a D800 and an Atomos Ninja for similar money. I think that combo would blow the pants off of the 5D Mk III in several categories when it comes to video. Eventually somebody will find out and post the results online.

For me, I'm in a wait and see pattern. $3500 can do many things for my business...this upgrade might not be the best investment for some of us to make at this time.

I have no idea why people are disappointed in the video capabilities... This camera is introducing an all i-frame option! The major complaint to HDSLRs isn't 1080 60P. Its Aliasing, Moire & Compression. An all i-Frame codec fixes or at very least reduces these issues dramatically! I for one am excited and can only hope that the image quality matches what the specs imply.

I know people with more money than myself don't like swivel screens because they have external monitors. For the rest of us enjoying the swivel on our 60D it makes an upgrade less appealing. The only hope I have for this release is that it will knock the mkII intro a price range I can afford and then one day invest in an evf.

A big disappointment for such a long awaited release. Oh well, bring down those Mark II prices!!

This is just right.

Guys the HDSLR just got new life with nikon, this camera is not worth the price to me. for that money i will get a sony FS100 and have a proper Video camera, or if i want a big sensor with great details i will go with nikon 800D and a BlackMagic design dek for uncompressed video at 10Bit. WOW that is resolution.

I am really down that we have waited so long for this thing to come out, really Canon is not interested in the HDSLR like we all thought, the c300 is a great camera but i will get a scalet instead (even if i have to get a new mac to edit the files) or just go to Nikon with better options, come on, can't they put a clean feed out of HDMI on this camera? I will keep my 60D and my 7D for longer now.

Yeah, no kidding. With dual Digic 5 processors and they couldn't even include 60ps! I mean I'm also a stills shooter. I sincerely hope the sensor has some awesome image quality with no noise up to 6400 or something, for stills, otherwise, I won't rush out and buy it.

Guys, I think you guys are all missing it. I think the most important new feature on this camera is the "ALL-I" compression. This is going to make the image quality WAAAAY better, and it also reduces the use of CPU power, so editing is easier... To me, that and the 2-stop better sensitivity (with acceptable noise).
Im deff getting this... after a save enough, hehe, for this and the Ipad 3 thats supposed to be announced next week....
Great post Emm! Ive pretty much left a comment on every article about the 5dm3, but I just feel at home here at cheesycam.com!
Once again, thanks for having such a great blog Emm! Honestly, thanks alot dude! Keep up the great work!

@emm I can tell you the FS100 is a HUGE improvement over any DSLR as far as total production. beyond the added video benefits you have 2 xlrs, with dual channels making more and higher quality audio options. Plus with good internal audio on a lot of projects you save a lot of time in post. Only strange part is working with MTS files (especially 1080 60fpa) convert, wrap, transcode, etc.

Personally, my expectations were set a little higher than this. Give us at least 1080@60p video? Better sensor resolution? This camera is basically a wrap-up of everything already available on 5DII/60D/7D with some bells and whistles. I may be a little pescimist, but it sounds to me like a VERY conservative approach. Definitely nothing worth losing my mind over... With some hope, the magic lantern guys will pull something crazy out of it.

I'm with Tristan on this. I feel pretty underwhelmed. It just reconfirms my belief that the success of the mkII was really an accident, not a stroke of marketing genius.
Canon has gone super conservative with this one. Then again imagine a roomful of Canon suits, trying to figure out what their marketing strategy would be. On one hand they have the C300, already having its ass kicked by Scarlet. On the other, they've leaked the pictures of the 4k DSLR. And they haven't even started selling the 1D-X. So, to think that they'd put anything more radical on this one, was, at best, wishful thinking on our part.

@Evan - It's definitely a better camera than the 5D Mark II. If I didn't already have several Mark IIs, I would get a Mark III. But since i'm pretty situated in the DSLR bodies, the FS100 still looks like an awesome camera that just makes some projects easier to get through...

After almost three years of waiting I really dont this that there is enough upgrades to loose my mind over. I really felt that Canon had an opportunity to do something really great and like always they choose the super conservative approach. I like the 61 focal points and the dual card slots FINALLY, but other than that I will stick with my Mark II and 60D. Not trying to be negative just honest. What say you Cheesy PEEPS?

Someone please loan me $3500 bucks so I can buy this. And another $1240 for a pair of flashes. This would make my life so much easier since I have to rely on my 60D for sports (which isn't that great for the duty) since my 5D sucks even more for sports.